What the hell happened to me last night?

Question

I went to bed last night around 3am and woke up drenched in sweat with no concept of time, was hearing voices and seeing things in my head. I think I was hallucinating but I'm not sure as I've never hallucinated before. The only thing close I can compare it with would be a marijuana high but I do not do that anymore. I did drink some coffee early in the day that I got for Christmas from a place I've never had coffee from before. Could it have been the coffee? There was people laughing in my head...I thought I would never come out of it so I just went back to bed after I got some water.

The coffee looks sort of expensive. It was French Vanilla dark roasted coffee and I drank about 3 cups. Before I went to bed I was feeling tired and watching TV (I was seeing and hearing people from TV in my head but more vividly and louder than normal.)

Also, I am drinking some more coffee but a different flavor right now to confirm if it was the coffee or not.

I drink coffee everyday and nothing like this has ever happened to me. I even drink it sometimes at night.

18 answers in 10 minutes. No, I don't smoke pot anymore (why would I lie?)

More info, it was like I was blacking out but I wasn't . It would come on very heavy for a second and then go away then come back. Like a heart-beat or like breathing.

OK the coffee part was just a thought. I drank the coffee around 10am. I went to sleep about 3am. That's a long time for caffeine to stay in the system and effect the mind.

I don't take medication and I don't drink alcohol or do drugs. I had some aspirin before I went to bed for a headache.

I was not lucid dreaming, even though i didn't look at a clock I knew it was before 6am that I woke up. I could still hear a tv on in the basement.

Yes, it may be that I have a brain tumor.

So far panic attack or anxiety are the best answer. Brain tumor is a little far fetched and male menopause...well, I'm only 24 so...take that 0.2% and cut it down to about .0002%.

Answer 1

This is the first sign of a brain tumor. Sorry.

Answer 2

Yes, it could have been the coffee. I remember once I drank a double latte at about 9 PM, and for the rest of the night I was sweating and imagining crazy things and getting all paranoid. I lived with my mom at the time, and I actually went into her room at 3 AM to ask her if I was really walking around or just imagining it, because I was FREAKING OUT!! I wasn't a stranger to coffee, either- I practically lived at Starbucks all through college, and at the time of my freak-out I used to have at least 5 lattes per week. Who knows what causes it- it could have just been the time of night, or maybe if you drank the coffee on an empty stomach. Just remember that caffeine IS a drug, just like alcohol is a drug, and all drugs have some side effects. If it happens again, just drink a lot of water. That's what finally helped me.

Answer 3

Well, you'll have to tell us tomorrow if the same thing happens! It's probably the remnants of a nightmare. Sometimes a dream can be so scary that it wakes you up but some of the aspects of the dream are still in your mind. So you've got this combination of the dream state and your regular waking state, and experience "hypnopompic hallucinations." (They're called hypnogogic when they happen as you're falling asleep.) Certainly caffeine could increase this as it's a central nervious stimulant and maybe it had a little more than what you're used to, but I doubt the coffee had specific hallucinogenic properties. You'd have experienced them much earlier.
Namaste.

Answer 4

Maybe it's the caffeine, because stuff like that happens to me sometimes when I have caffeine, especially if I have it before bedtime, but maybe it's not that...are you on new medication or something, did you watch a scary movie, are you thinking about ghosts or something, did you have a nightmare...? Anything like that would cause what happened to you. I think you should probably spend the day socializing...to get your mind off things for a while. Maybe even spend the night at a friends house so that they can tell you if you were talking in your sleep or sleepwalking or something.

Answer 5

It may be just the interruption in the normal sleep cycle and you had a sort of "waking" nightmare. The coffee and general anxiety of the day may have contributed, but would not be the direct cause. If you have the experience again, you may want to consult a physician; otherwise, I don't think it is too serious.

Answer 6

I really don't think coffee would do something like that to you, especially if you drink it regularly and this hasn't happened before. Maybe your drink was spiked with something?

I mean, it easily could have just been a really vivid nightmare, but I wouldn't take any chances. If this happens again then you should seek help.

Answer 7

I'm no doctor but what you explained sounded very much like symptoms of a panic attack. This could have been brought on by bad dream. You should see the doctor about it anyway, just in case.

Answer 8

The hallucinations are called "hypnagogic hallucinations" and can sometimes occur in healthy people on waking or falling asleep. Its ok. Its ok. Calm down. Only start worrying if you start hallucinating on a regular basis during the day.

Answer 9

If it was a one time thing, I would write it down somewhere.. the date, the duration, what happened.

If it happens a second time, call 911 and have them take to the ER where they can do a CAT scan. At least you can put the brain tumor question to rest.

Answer 10

Too much caffeine can cause some strange dream-like states when you're trying to sleep. If it happens again, without a large amount of caffeine involved, you should probably see a doctor though.

Answer 11

Are you sure that you didn't wake up in the middle of a dream? The coffee maybe could have contributed, but if it happens again, you should definately get a professional opinion (psychiatrist).